With a major craving for cheesy, hearty and filling pasta that wouldn’t go straight to my muffin top I made my famous (well its famous in my house) Lasagna, only 8 points plus per serving.

Here’s how I did it.

1 lb of lean ground beef 93/7
12 oven ready lasagna noodles
1 1/2 cups of part skim mozzarella cheese
2 cans of italian diced tomatoes
I large can of prepared tomato sauce ( I use Hunt’s garlic and herb)
salt
pepper
Italian Seasoing
Garlic Powder
Onions

Brown your meat with the onions and seasonings until fully cooked. Drain any excess fat.  Once cooked add in the two cans of tomatoes un drained and the entire can of tomato sauce, about 2.5 cups or so.  It look like a lot of sauce but don’t worry…the sauce is what cooks the oven ready noodles. Spray your 13 x 9 casserole dish with non stick spray and start your layers.  4 sheets of pasta, meat sauce, cheese, 4 sheets of pasta, meat sauce, cheese, 4 sheets of pasta, meat sauce, cheese.  Once complete bake at 400 for about 50 minutes to an hour or until the pasta is fork tender.

This lasagna is 8 Point Plus per serving and my dish is 8 servings,  Make sure to portion out the pan as it will be tempting to eat more than a single portion.

I pair my lasagna with garlic bread and either a salad or a green vegetable like green beans or broccoli.

This lasagna also freezes well.  I follow the exact same steps except that before I layer the pasta I make sure the meat sauce is at room temperature.  Even make your lasagna in a throw away pan with a lid and you will be so graeatful to have a go to meal one night when cooking is the last thing on your mind.

What are some of your favorite dishes? Share them with me in the comments or tweet them to me @mlj2374

-Drama mama out

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Came across this delish recipe at my weekly Weight Watcher meeting. This is sure to kill your cheesy craving.

1 lb 2% Velvetta
1 lb uncooked spaghetti
1 can rotel
1 can 98% FF cream of chicken
1 can 98% FF cream of mushroom
1 can of white meat chicken in water
onions
salt
pepper

boil pasta until tender and combine all items in your crockpot and heat on low for 2 to 3 hours.

makes 12 1 cup servings at 6 Points Plus per serving.

It’s amazingly cheesy and delish.  I would suggest adding double the chicken which would affect the points values

-Drama mama out

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I am a reborn Weight Watcher member and about 7 weeks ago I started the new program, PointsPlus and I have loved it so far. The only thing that I tend to have a problem with are the days that I am having a really big carb craving.  With the PointsPlus program, carbs are allowed of course but they are kind of high in points so it makes you think twice about having a sandwich or any other bready item.

Look no further because I have come across the holy grail of bread products, Flat Out Flatbreads! I found these amazing bread products in Target the other day in the deli. They are very large about a 10 inch oval and they are made to make wraps out of them.  I purchased the Italian light and it is 2 PointsPlus values for the full item.  I am not sure of the POintsPlus values for nonLight versions.

These flatbreads are thicker and more bready than a tortilla but are thinner than a pita.  I used mine to make an amazing thin crust pizza and it was delish! Check out the recipe below.

1 Flat out Light Italian Flabread
2 tablespoons tomato sauce
1/3 cup part skim mozzarella cheese
17 turkey peperoni
bell peppers sliced
red pepper flakes
italian seasoning

This is not the pizza I made but boy does it look amazing!

Top your flatbread with sauce, then season with red pepper flakes and Italian seasoning.  Place half of the pepperoni onto the crust.  Top with half of the cheese and peppers and repeat.  Bake at 450 for about 7 minutes until the cheese is melted and your crust is crisp.

The pizza will be like a super thin crust.

Have you eaten Flat Outs before? What do you use them for?

Check out some of their amazing recipes…I know I will be trying the quesadilla recipe for sure

-Drama mama out

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So as know I started Weight Watchers last week as they kicked off their new Points Plus Program.  All I have to say is that I am in love! Not only is it easy to follow as Weight Watchers alwasy has been but with the new plan I feel satified so much longer due to more protein and fruits and veggies.

I weighed in today and lost a total of 4.6 lbs in one week! So to keep my progress going I made a quick, delicious and healthy dinner in my crock pot and I wanted to share it with you all.

Italian Beef and Lentil Sew Recipe

1 1/2 lbs of lean round steak or lean stew meat
1 1/2 cups of brown lentils
1 can of Italian diced tomatoes
1 cup of tomato sauce
Itatlian Seasoing
Garlic
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Red Pepper Flakes

In your crock pot put in your lentils, meat, tomatoes with all the juice from teh can and your sauce.  Top off with about 3 cans of water and season to taste.  I added about 2 tblsp of garlic, 1 tblsp of salt, 1 tblsp of pepper and just gave dashes of italian seasoning, garlic power and red pepper flake.  Turn your cooker on high if you need this dish done in 4 hours or less or turn is on low and let is cook while you are at work.

This makes about 6 portions at about a cup per serving which comes in at about 8 PointsPlus.  This soup is delicious, hearty and rustic.   Try adding in carrots, celery and onion to boost the flavor without bringing up the PointsPlus.  I am going to have my soup with a peice of garlic bread and a good movie

Enjoy

-Drama mama out

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In honor of Thanksgiving I decided to let you in on my secret and delicious recipe for the most decandent and amazing sweet potato dish.  It is a quick and simple dish to make and its impressive.  Your guests are sure to believe that you spent loads of time baking up this holiday favorite.

1 large can of sweet potatoes drained
1/2 cup of milk
1 cup sugar or splenda
pinch of salt
1  egg
1 cup of brown sugar or splenda brown sugar
1 cup of chopped pecans or pecan peices
2 tblsp flour
2 tblsp margarine or butter

Drain sweet potatoes and mashe them.  Place in a casserole dish of your choice.  Mix the milk, sugar, salt and a beaten egg into the sweet potato mixture.  Smooth out the top.  In a seperate bowl combine the flour, brown sugar and pecans.  Pour the melted margarine or butter over the pecan/flour/sugar mixture.  Stir to combine.  Pour pecans over the sweet potatoes and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes until the top if hard. 

This dish is absolutely delicious and you can really lighten it up by using Splenda products.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving! Let me know what you think of the recipe!

-Drama mama out

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I have never been an avid recipe follower.  I am more of an adapter of recipes.  I like to take recipes and change them up to fit my tastes and work with ingredients that I have.

On Rachael Ray’s 30 Minute Meals the other day Rachael made a casserole called Taco-sagna (you can view her full recipe here) which was basically a layered Mexican casserole.  I put my own spin on it and it was delicious.  It lasted a long time and the leftovers were great. Try it out and let me know what you think.

1 lb of ground turkey (you could use ground beef if you prefer)
12 small fajita tortillas
1 can of FF refried beans
I can of Rotel
I can of enchilada sauce
i package of mexican cheese
small onion
green bellpepper
taco seasoning

Brown your turkey with the onion and bellpepper. Season with salt and pepper.  When the meat is fully cooked add in the taco seasoning and stir to combine.

Spray a casserole dish with Pam and put 4 tortillas down with the centers overlapping to cover the bottom of the dish. Smear on 1/2 of the can of refried beans.

Spread 1/2 of the meat mixture on top of the beans.  Drain the rotel and add 1/2 of the can of rotel on top of the meat.  Top the with 1/3 of the can of enchilada sauce.  Sprinkle 1/3 of the bag of cheese on top.

Repeat: put 4 tortillas down with the centers overlapping. Smear on 1/2 of the can of refried beans.

Spread 1/2 of the meat mixture on top of the beans.  Drain the rotel and add 1/2 of the can of rotel on top of the meat.  Top the with 1/3 of the can of enchilada sauce.  Sprinkle 1/3 of the bag of cheese on top.

Place 4 more tortillas to finish off the casserole, pour the rest of the enchilada sauce on top followed by the rest of the cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees until the cheese is bubbly, about 15 minutes or so.  Slice and enjoy.  You can top this with any of your favorite taco toppings, lettuce, hot sauce, jalapenos, olives etc.

This recipe does have a lot of cheese so if you make it as above I would think that one 3″ x 3″ square would be in the 8 to 10 Weight Watchers point range.

-Drama mama out

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